The Meddling Of Fate
by Hmz0975
Summary: Two people – both left behind by the ones they loved. The story of an unusual imprinting, that no one understands. Does love have the power to make two people who had completely given up on life turn a new leaf and can they heal each other's wounds.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I know I already have two stories yet to be finished but I just could not resist writing this down when I read a story on this pairing. Please read and let me know what you think. Thank you.

Bella did not jump of the cliffs. Jacob stopped her and so the Cullen's are not back and will not be back.

Chapter 1-

'No this can't be happening' 'Why me?' 'Why am I an abnormality with the shittiest luck possible to mankind?'

I wanted to scream. I wanted to run away and never look back. This couldn't be happening! He was my father's friend for god's sake, a man twice my age. Why do the wolf gods hate me so much? Wasn't changing into a female wolf or my fiancée leaving me for my cousin enough that now this?

I took a few steps behind as three people stared at me in silence, two completely aware of what had just happened. No, I could not deal with this right now. I ran out of the small red brick house ignoring the voice of my friend or someone who I considered closest to a friend who was telling me to stop and talk to him. Did he not realize that I did not want to talk about this? I could not talk about one more thing gone wrong in my life.

Seriously someone upstairs is laughing at my plight and making plans on 'How to make Leah Clearwater's life more miserable'.

I ran a hand through my short hair. I hated it. I had loved my long tresses but when I became this abnormality Sam literally ordered me to get it cut. A wolf cannot have shaggy fur he had told me and so I had taken a scissor and chopped my waist length thick black hair into this short mane that barely reached my ears while tears flowed down my eyes, another fuck you from the world to me.

I wanted to phase and run, let my legs lead me to unknown destination. Running was the only good part of being a wolf. Freedom, it was the freedom I desperately craved at this moment. But I could not phase right now. Paul and Quil were on patrol. They would hear my thoughts and everyone would know that I imprinted on 'him' as there were no secrets in this pack. No I would hide this. Take it with me to my grave if I had to.

Imprinting was the love at first sight version for our wolves a magical bond that eternally tied us to someone else. Whether they were single or not did not matter. Where they were from did not matter and their age definitely did not matter. All that mattered was them. In a pack of 10, 5 had already imprinted and now me.

Sam on Emily, Jared on Kim, Paul on Rachel, Quil on Claire, Jacob on Bella and now me on 'him'.

No I would never accept this. I could never accept this. Imprinting was not for me and I will it prove to everyone that it can be resisted. You need a heart to fall in love which I clearly don't. Sam tore it to shreds when he left me for my cousin and as everyone in the Pack says I am the Pack bitch, the one who deserves to be alone and maybe that is the truth.

I walked to my house in silence. How was I going to tell my mother this? She never expressed it but I knew that she sort of had feelings for him. After my father expired almost a year back, he had really supported her in getting back on her feet and somewhere in that journey she had started developing feelings for him. She never told us or him but I could see it in the way she behaved around him. They were meant to be not me and him.

He is 42 while I am 21, just two years older than his own daughter.

How could the spirits think that he was my soul mate? I was supposed to fall in love with him, be with him but I was too broken for that and so was he. Everyone who knew him knew this about him. He was still in love with his ex- wife who left him nearly nineteen years back. He had not dated since then. Maybe that was what was similar in us both. Both still terribly in love with their first love and could not let it go even if we wanted to.

What would the Pack think of this? Not that I cared though knowing that it was about me sure the comments would be rude and mean just like they always were. Jacob, Seth and Embry would understand. I don't know whether they would support this imprinting or not but they would not berate me or pass vile comments over it. Seth my dearest brother would support me and be by my side in every situation even if the entire world was against me and Jacob and Embry just did not have it in them to pass berate comments.

Paul and Jared would have a field day with this imprinting. They were not bad people per se but just were opinionated about every damn matter irrespective it concerned them or not. Both of them had imprinted on girls who were of the same age and they did not understand what this was like.

The pups Brady and Collin would be indifferent and how Sam would react I had no clue. He still claimed to have feelings for me but they were subdued by his love for Emily. Quil would probably be the only one who understood.

He had imprinted on a two year old for heaven's sake and knew how such an imprinting could feel. But his thoughts were platonic. He looked at Claire like a sister, while my thoughts…

He was an adult just like I was and even if I hated it I would be lying, if I said that I did not want to run back to him and engulf myself in his scent.

Damn! Why did my mother have to send me to give Billy her prepared fish fry? If she had dropped by herself or sent Seth instead I would have never been in this predicament. I would still be the Pack Bitch who hated everyone and everything and loved tormenting people with my thoughts through the Pack mind. Maybe this was my punishment for being such a Bitch, imprinting on an unattainable man.

I clearly remember the scene in front of me when I had entered the living room of the Black's. Billy and he were sitting on the couch drinking beer and watching baseball while Jacob was sitting on one of the chairs in the corner talking to Bella on the phone making plans with her to meet her at the beach in sometime. I had given Billy one of my rare smiles before giving him the box of fish fry. Out of courtesy I had looked at 'him' to tell him a hello before I left on my own way. After all he had been my father's best friend at one point of time and the least I could do was say a hello when I saw him. I reserved my hatred and moodiness for people who deserved it and he clearly did not deserve it.

The minute my eyes met his everything disappeared. The world around me froze and I swear I could hear angels singing in the sky. All the cords that once connected me to this world disappeared. My love for Sam and my hatred for him and Emily disappeared. My mother and brother did not matter as much as before. He was my everything and I would be everything he wanted me to be.

I heard Jacob mutter a shit before the receiver fell from his hand and I snapped out of my daze. Billy and Jacob were staring at me unbelieving the sight in front of them and he was curiously looking around not quite understanding our reaction. No one had said a word for a few minutes processing the weird happening that had just occurred and that was when I had run out. I could not deal with more stares and more comments. I was a freak I knew it, the first female werewolf of the Pack surrounded by nine teenage boys. I did not need this too attached to my name imprinting on a man old enough to be my father. From Jacob and Bella's imprinting, we now knew that it was possible to imprint on someone who was not native unlike what the elders had once thought but this was unheard of and of course it had to happen to me. I was the perfect guinea pig for all the experiments the spirits wanted to conduct.

I opened the door to my house and was glad when I scented it and found it empty. I could not talk to anyone right now. I could not answer my mother and brother on why I looked so rattled and what had just happened. It was better if they never knew after all I was never going to do anything about it. I was not a masochist by any angle but I just did not look at imprinting like everyone else looked at it. For everyone else it was a gift, the shortcut to find your perfect mate skipping all those years of casual dating and broken hearts but for me it was a constant reminder that I was not good enough for the man I loved with every inch of me. That my cousin was better off for him to be with him and have his babies to pass on the wolf gene.

I laughed a bitter laugh. Another fuck you to me! With my phasing , my periods had stopped and because we could not go to a doctor I had no clue that whether they would ever start again or not. As of now I had made peace with the fact that I would never be able to have children. I had never been much of a maternal person but a part of me did want to experience this in life and that had been taken away from me just like a million other things had been in the past.

I walked to my room locking it behind me and lied down on the bed in my room closing my eyes. This was not how I envisioned my future to be. I had thought that I would be married by now living a happy blissful life but I guess fate does not know what that means when it comes to me.

Thoughts of 'him' filtered through my mind. His tall frame and built fit body, his curly hair that I had a sudden urge to run my hands through, his moustache that made him look even sexier and his chocolate brown eyes that I could stare in for hours.

I groaned and buried my head in the pillow. Why was I thinking about him like this? I did not look at him like this a few hours back. What changed? Oh yes I imprinted on him making him suddenly everything I could want and think about.

No I had to be strong. People would never accept such a relationship. Our community would never accept a forty two year old man dating a twenty one year old. The pack and elders would have to accept as they would have no choice in it. Not that that road would be easy but still.

What about him?

What would he make of all of this? Would he even want to look at my face after I told him the truth, in case I told him the truth? I wouldn't be shocked if he told me to get out and never show him my face again. He had babysat me as a kid.

Tears dropped down my face as I sat in that dark room thinking what did I do to deserve this in life. I never cried in front of anyone else. I was the cold person they thought me to be in their presence but at this moment when I was alone my walls came crashing down.

Oh how I missed my father. He would know what to do. He always knew what to do.

I don't know how long I cried for but a knock at the door and a familiar voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

"Leah, open the door"

I shook my head. I did not want to talk about this. If I did not talk about it I could pretend that it is not real.

"Leah please let me come in. I need to talk to you" pleaded the person outside the door.

"Go away" I screeched in a teary voice

"Leah I will break down the door if you don't open it. You know you cannot fight it"

"Try me" I snarled

"Leah, please just give me a chance to tell you what I want to tell you"

I sighed. He was one persistent person who would not leave without getting what he wanted to.

I got out of my bed and opened the door wiping my face. I was too tired to put on that mask of indifference and rudeness that I put on when the pack was around.

"Yes Jacob, how can I help you?"

The next thing I know he had hugged me to him. The only person who hugged me these days was Seth, even my mother rarely hugged me and so I basked in this warmth and returned the hug.

"Are you okay?" he asked

I nodded my head "As can be" "Does the pack know?"

He shook his head "No this is your news to share and I was not sure if you wanted them to know and don't worry even dad won't say a word to anyone"

I nodded my head thankful to them both.

"I don't want anyone to know" "It is better if they don't know"

"Leah" he sighed "Don't disregard imprinting. It is the best thing to happen to me and to many others"

Of course he would say this. After all he imprinted on the girl he loved more than anything. Bella Swan aka ex leech lover now wolf lover, was nearly a constant presence in Jake's life before and after he phased. He imprinted on her the first time he saw her after his change but he hid it from her because she was still in love with her leech ex boyfriend. With the threat of Victoria looming over her she had spent majority of her time with Jake here on the res and after Jake had successfully killed Victoria in the newborn army singlehandedly, destroying a few bones of his in the process she had ran up to him and confessed her love for him to which he had revealed his imprinting on her and they had been happy since.

He continued talking when I did not interrupt "Jared adores Kim, Rachel is the best thing to happen in Paul's life, I love Bella more than anything in the world and even Quil is extremely happy in being Claire's brother for the time being"

I know he specifically did not mention Sam and Emily.

I scoffed "Jacob it is not that easy. I don't look at him like a brother or father figure"

"Leah it is as difficult as you make it to be and as simple as you want it to be and so what is the matter if he is a few years older than you. Age does not matter as much as you think it does"

I scoffed again "I am not going to accept the imprint. It is a mistake."

"Leah it is not a mistake and none of us could fight it and neither will you be able to"

I shook my head. I was adamant on this. My heart belonged to someone else and it had no place for anyone else.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you MissArticWolf, YaleAceBella12, catgrl, brankel1 and Sarae32 for your reviews.

'_Two broken people will either fit together perfectly or destroy each other beyond repair'_

Chapter 2-

10 days, 240 hours, 14400 minutes and 8,64,000 seconds had passed since fate had decided to meddle in my life once again and had eternally tied me to another being. Imprinting, a blessing or curse many would agree, the imprinted wolves saw it as a blessing, another person to share their happiness with, to adore, love and care about, to share your worries with and most importantly the only one who knew the most important secret of your life that you were a shape shifter and went furry on a daily basis.

In our Pack of ten, the only one apart from me who swore to detest imprinting had been Paul and Brady. Both man whores who could not fathom the idea of being tied down in life. Well that had changed when our residential playboy Paul Lahote had imprinted on one Rachel Black nearly six months back and overnight he had seen a new light and had vowed to become something Rachel would be proud of. That had left me and Brady in the league of the ones who did not want to imprint though our reasons for this were completely different. He was an immature fifteen year old who wanted to experience all life could offer with his attractive new look and built body while I, I just could not accept something that had successfully ruined my life once already. I lost Sam because of imprinting and accepting this mystical bond, would feel like a slap on my face. No even if this was the last thread by which Sam was in my life, in my memories, I would gladly hold onto it.

But destiny had had different plans and my bitter life had taken another extreme turn when I had walked into the Black's house exactly ten days back. My plan had been simple, give Billy the box of food, which my mother had asked me to and then get out of there to continue wallowing in my own painful thoughts. A simple hello said out of courtesy had uprooted the balance of my life which I had maintained since the past one year and my life had no longer belonged to me but now belonged to one Charlie Swan, a man almost on the cusp of middle age and a father to a nineteen year old. Of course we had known that imprinting was not bound by any fixed laws and there were no guidelines for us to follow and the biggest example of this had been Quil and Claire. For days everyone had mercilessly seen Quil as a pedophile for imprinting on a then two year old and had only given up when they saw how different their imprinting was. But till ten days back I had still been guilty of this, my father always used to say think before you speak and if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. In my bitterness and frustration to avoid the shitty cards I had been dealt with in life, I had more often than once taken out my anger on the other pack members and mostly on the imprinted ones out of those. For me they were all in the same boat as Sam who had not even tried to fight this compulsion named imprinting that had been thrown upon us but how wrong had I been.

Imprinting was difficult to comprehend, your life no longer belonged to you but to someone else who could very well be a stranger and even if you didn't want to your feet would unknowingly take you to their doorstep. I had always thought that it was forced instant love, a way in which your free will was taken from you, but now that I was the one going through this, I could see that I had been wrong in this matter, it was more like instant attraction followed by the immense need to care and look after the said person. The love part of this equation was completely on the human side.

But to fall in love you need a heart that has the power to love and my heart was shattered into pieces beyond the capacity to be mended. Broken, irrevocably damaged, I was merely surviving instead of living. Many people have over and over told me this, the most important being my mother herself that I need to let go and move on but how do you move on from your first love, your first serious crush, the one you saw a million dreams with for your future and when those dreams shatter, it is difficult to just get up and pretend that everything is normal because it is not and never will be. You never forget your first love because that was the first time your heart learnt what it was to love someone that immensely and selflessly.

Somehow I had managed to hide this latest catastrophe that had recently occurred in my life from the others who surrounded me, namely the pack and my mother. I had always been better at hiding my thoughts from the pack and the only information that I wanted them to know was what they heard in my mind. They knew that something was off with me as I was rudder and bitter than usual and had even snapped on Embry, who was the sweetest out of the lot, a few times but they could not name the exact reason why and in the end Paul had said that I was probably going through my usual PMS and should be left alone.

My home life was no better than my pack life these days as I had lost all my appetite and sleep and even my mother and Seth were not saved from my mood swings and anger. Often after everyone slept I would run to Forks in wolf form and sleep outside his window for a few hours relishing in the peace that I felt when I was around him. Since the past few months due to the lack of bloodsuckers trespassing in the area, our nightly patrols had been called off and so there would be no one in mind for those few hours of calm. Before the first ray of sun would hit us, I would run back to La Push and pretend that I was at home the entire night. This nightly ritual was the only freedom I had given myself when it came to this imprinting.

Jake had promised me that this was my secret to share, if I chose to share and neither he nor Billy would be spilling the beans and for once I was thankful that he was our Alpha. He was a good leader and a fair one too. A few weeks after the newborn war, Jacob and Sam had mutually decided that Sam would step down from the position of the Alpha and Jake would take his rightful position. Sam wanted to stop phasing eventually and grow old with Emily and start having Kids. For days after I had heard about this I had been more bitter than usual. Of course I knew that they would be having a family one day, that all the dreams that Sam and I had seen of our future life, Emily would be the one to live them with Sam by her side but Sam saying this from his own mouth had made it more final and that was one of those many times when I had stormed out of a pack meeting, not even bothering to hide my anger.

Today was the pack bonfire, a day for the wolves, imprints and elders to sit around the fire, talk, eat, listen to stories and enjoy each other's company but for me, the loner and unwanted member of this 'family' it was a day to stare in the water and wait for this mandatory to attend event to end.

Emily and Bella had prepared a ton of food and from my spot near the cliffs on First Beach, far away from all of them, I could see Collin and Paul fighting for the last hot dog. Billy had not yet started reciting the legends and the imprints and elders was merrily laughing and cracking jokes while eating before that part of the evening began. The boys were all now playing football at a distance in their own way of pack bonding, roughhousing and pushing one another.

The sun was just setting on this small village located on the Pacific coast leaving a slightly orange glint on the light blue water. I could feel the temperature dropping leaving a chilly feel around and the imprints and elders tightened their warm clothes around their selves that they were wearing. But I was sitting there wearing my trademark pack attire which was just a pair of short and a tank top. The cold no longer affected me or any of the other shape shifters. We were just immune to the cold and because of our high temperature I could never feel anything other than heat. Quil had once tried to see how long an ice cube would remain in the form of ice when placed on our body and it had melted in a few seconds. I just stared at the waves in the water as I did on every other pack bonfire. No one bothered me they knew better than that, after all who would want to ruin their happy mood by being around a morose person like me. The only person who could tolerate my presence was Seth and that had more to do with the type of person he was. In the imprints, I knew that most of them were scared of the harpy bitch image that I owned. Rachel had once been a friend, growing up together, but after she came back and joined the list of imprints, things between us had very quickly gone downhill. The fact that she was close to Emily was enough for me to dislike her. I had not cared when she had tried to talk to me.

"Hey you okay" asked a voice as the said person sat next to me

I nodded my head without even looking at the person. It was a reflex for me now. The weeks after Sam had left me for Emily, I was often asked this question and my only answer would be a nod. I knew that their question was just out of courtesy or curiosity and they did not actually want to hear what I was going through and so a nod was all they got from me. The ones who were closer got to witness my anger and tantrums and by the end of those few weeks I had no friends who I could genuinely term as friends remaining.

He sighed "Leah, you need to stop doing this to yourself"

"Jacob" I started irritated. I was tired of this same conversation. Just because he had imprinted did not mean that he knew what I was going through.

"No" he said in a sharp voice "Shut the fuck up Leah Clearwater and listen to me. I am done with your moping. You are just torturing yourself and everyone around you"

"Sorry oh great Alpha for being a pain in your ass" I snapped at him

"Leah" he said as if he was talking to a child "It is inevitable, none of us could fight it and neither will you be able to. You are just stopping yourself from being happy"

"I have told you this many times in these past few days Jacob. I am not interested in having this conversation and seriously aren't you even a bit grossed out by this imprinting?" I asked him. I had expected that his first reaction would be to be grossed out, disgusted by this mess that fate had pushed me in.

He shook his head almost instantly "No I am not at all grossed out by you imprinting on him because there is no reason for it. Love does not see age, gender, color or religion. There are several couples out there who are extremely happy irrespective of the age difference between them. It does not matter if the both of you love one another and our happy to be with each other. When you find the one made for you, you just go with your heart"

A quote by Mark Twain made its way in my mind 'Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter'

I could see at a distance, Sam kiss Emily on the cheek as she sat in his lap. Jared was listening to Kim talk like she was the only person to exist in the world. Paul and Rachel were playfully fighting and nudging one another and Quil was playing with the three year old Claire and all of them had a smile on their face.

Did I even deserve such happiness, such love, this feeling of absolute adoration and devotion?

"But he is my father's friend" I whispered

"So?" "Harry wanted you to be happy in life and he knew Charlie and trusted him"

"But" I said trying to convince him how wrong this was. I can't love again I don't have the power to do that.

"Leah, stop making excuses for yourself" "Tomorrow I am having dinner with Bella and Charlie at their house, come with me"

I looked at him disbelievingly "No way" no I can't go in front of Charlie. It is better for all of us if I avoid this.

He sighed again "I did not want to do this but you leave me with no choice. Leah as your alpha I order you to come to Charlie's house with me tomorrow for dinner"

I glared at him, asshole traitor. He just smirked in return.

"I will see you tomorrow, now I am going to go back to my 'imprint'" he said getting up from the seat next to mine.

I saw him back go back to where the others were standing and then I turned back to look into the water in silence.

X-X-X

'It is just dinner' I said to myself for the fiftieth time since I woke up this morning after a restless night of hardly any sleep.

'It does not mean a damn thing. Just a forced dinner with someone you don't even like very much. Go there, stay a few hours and then leave, never to go back again'

My wolf whined in protest from inside me. She had desperately been waiting for tonight. 'Our imprint' she shouted proudly with a tinge of possessiveness while I just shushed her. My wolf was the only she-wolf of this pack and had an aura of power around her. She did not like taking orders from anyone except the Alpha and was protective of her status in the pack.

Luckily I did not have to patrol today or I would have definitely not been able to control my thoughts giving everyone a front view of my imprinting. In a pack this big with no need for it, each person only patrolled thrice a week.

"Leah, are you going anywhere?" asked my mother standing at the entrance of my room, with the surprise evident on her face. No doubt she would be surprised. In the last one year I have rarely ever left the house willingly unless it was for patrolling or work and today I had even taken the effort to dress up, applying light make up too which I rarely ever did. For some reason which I was aware of but wanted to pretend like it was not true, I wanted to look good today, the best I had ever looked.

"Are you going out on a date?" she asked when I did not answer. Her eyes wide, gleaming with happiness and surprise. She thought I was finally moving on.

I shook my head "I am going with Jacob to…" I stopped myself from saying Charlie "Bella's house"

She nodded her head with a smile on her face "Oh good, enjoy"

I gave her a small smile in return and walked down the stairs. Jake was going to pick me up in his rabbit so that we could drive there together.

"Lee, you are going somewhere?" asked Seth staring at me from his place on the couch, where he had been playing a video game. Somehow he had been so engrossed in it that he had not even heard our conversation upstairs.

I nodded my head and repeated what I had just told my mother.

He looked at me suspiciously "Why?"

I shrugged "Maybe Bella wanted to talk to me about something. I don't know"

He nodded his head once before diverting his eyes back to the game.

Soon Jacob came to pick me up and the both of us left for the twenty minute drive to Forks. The entire way was spent in silence and I played with the bracelet I had worn in my right hand trying to keep myself calm. 'It is just dinner, not a big deal' I kept repeating to myself.

We got out of the car in the driveway of their house and Jacob knocked at their door while I nervously stood behind him and a smiling Bella opened the door, Jake wrapping her in his arms laughing, kissing her with all he had in him. I turned my eyes. It felt like I was intruding on them.

"Oh hi Leah" said Bella looking at me "What a surprise?" she said almost like a question

"Bells, I invited Leah for dinner. I hope it is okay?" said Jake and I glared at him. Couldn't he have told her that he had forced this on me, in advance?

She gave me a small smile "Of course Jake, Leah please come in"

I gave her my own smile in return and walked in.

Charlie, my Charlie was sitting on the couch wearing a Flannel shirt with a pair of jeans and was watching a basketball game on the TV. He looked up when I entered and our eyes met again. I felt like I was imprinting all over again and I just could not look away. The world around us did not matter. It was just him and me.

Jacob coughed breaking the staring contest that had been going on. I nervously looked at the floor. No, I could not give in, I would not give in. He was not mine and never would be. I was doomed to be single and alone in life and that was how it was going to remain.

"Oh hi Leah, I did not expect to see you here" he said gaining control of himself again looking nervous

I just gave him a small smile "Jake made me tag along"

Charlie gave out a nervous laugh and Jake and I sat opposite him on the couch. Bella excused herself to the kitchen to ready the side dishes while Jake and Charlie had a conversation about sports which I half listened to majorly lost in my own thoughts.

Soon Bella called us at the table and we sat on the small dining table in the Swan's house which had mismatched chairs.

A small part of my mind was registering on the conversation going on around me or on the fact that the food was indeed delicious but mostly all I could think about was my imprint. Finally after eleven long days, I was in the same room as him, breathing the same air as him, feeling relief and calmness after so long. I did not even remember the last time I felt so peaceful.

"Leah, are you okay?" asked Bella with genuine worry on her face

I nodded my head

"So Leah, where are you working these days?" asked Charlie looking into my eyes, I forced myself to not fall into them again and answer the damn question asked.

"Umm I work as security with the other boys on the res" I said picking on a piece of bread. Suddenly I felt a small stab in my chest and I winced, moving a little in my seat. What was this sudden pain?

"That is the pain you feel when you lie or hide information from your imprint" said Jacob at a volume which only the both of us could hear.

"And I take shifts at the Ateara general store" I said as Charlie nodded his head.

"Yes Jake once told me about how the tribal council had entrusted you all with this work" he said "Though I still feel that this is too much responsibility for a bunch of teenagers"

"Charlie, it is not like that. We don't even have much work these days" said Jake and Charlie said something to him in return.

I floated into oblivion not bothering to concentrate on the conversation going on around me. I looked at the room I was in, the people I was around and mainly at my imprint. Would I be able to have this life, this life filled with happiness and love for one another, if I accepted this imprint and if by chance Charlie accepted it too? Would Charlie look at me, how Bella looks at Jake or how Kim looks at Jared? Could we be happy together or was I just dreaming about something that could never be achieved, after all this was my life where everything had a record of going wrong.

"Jake, can I talk to you for a minute?" said Bella pulling me out of my thoughts making me realize that I had been staring at Charlie. I looked at the floor flushed with embarrassment.

Jacob reluctantly nodded his head and the both of them left the room leaving us both behind. I kept my eyes to the now empty plate in front of me. I could not look up and I felt Charlie do the same. After a few minutes of silence, Jacob and Bella reentered the room. I could decipher the expression on Bella's face. She looked shocked, surprised, angry, happy, confused all at the same time.

Soon we cleared the table after finishing dinner and I offered to help Bella in the kitchen while Charlie and Jake moved their discussion about sports to the couch.

We worked in silence for a few minutes before Bella sighed heavily and looked at me

"We need to talk" she said and from the expression on her face I knew that she knew.

A/N: There won't be many chapters to this story, as of now I am planning to wrap this story by the fourth or fifth chapter. Thank you for reading.


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you Loveforgreeneyes, catgrl, sarae32, brankel1, MammaNita4 and YaleAceBella12 for your reviews.

Sarae32: I agree with you, I always felt that Sam had not let Leah completely go despite of being with Emily and he wanted to keep her around as well because of which even she could not move on. Not sure about Casanova but he will surely be a charmer. Thank again for the review.

"_I wish I were a little girl again because skinned knees are easier to fix than a broken heart" -Julia Roberts _

Chapter 3-

"We need to talk" she said and from the expression on her face I knew that she knew.

I nodded my head. There was no reason to avoid this conversation as sooner or later she would know what had happened and I would be forced to face reality. It was inevitable. Being an imprint herself, she would soon have recognized the signs even if Jacob would not have told her by then though Jacob had done me a huge favor by not telling anyone yet, not even Bella, who was his imprint. Having imprinted, I now knew how painful it was to keep secrets from your imprint and how terrible these past few days must have been for him.

"Not here, follow me" she said walking out of the kitchen towards her room upstairs while I followed her. If I would have to retrospect on my actions of this past one year on who was I the meanest to, Bella Swan would have topped that list. I blamed her for every bad thing that had happened recently in my life, calling her leech lover on every occasion and going as far as telling her that she was into necrophilia. She was an easy target to blame. I blamed her for the leeches moving here, for Sam phasing, for him imprinting on Emily, for my phase and for the fact that I was the one responsible for unintentionally giving my father a heart attack, after all my phasing had been the catalyst to it. In the first few months after her zombie phase, when she had started hanging out with Jacob and was in the knowing of the pack, no one in the pack had been welcoming to her presence except Emily. She was the only one apart from Jacob who was on friendly terms with Bella. Slowly Bella started making her way in everyone's heart starting with the pups that she cooked for and helped in their studies which they missed because of patrolling. Sam and Jared were harder to please but soon accepted her when they saw the friendship between her and their imprints. The only two remaining ones who still disliked her mere presence were me and Paul and Jacob had gone as far as assigning a bodyguard to protect her when we were nearby. That had again changed when Rachel Black entered Paul's life. She and Bella had been childhood friends and Rachel had almost skinned Paul alive when he insulted Bella in front of her. So that left me, the only one who still disliked Bella and had sneered every time when Bella gave me a smile.

I guess life works in mysterious ways for the fact that I had imprinted on her father, on her family and I wouldn't be completely shocked if she took out that anger over here. Everyone knew that Charlie Swan loved his daughter more than anyone in this world and would never go against her wishes. I guess I had brought this down on myself by not being kinder to her. In my hatred for imprinting I had treated all the other imprints like how I treated Emily and even three year old Claire knew to keep her distance from me. Maybe this was my punishment for being mean to her.

"Sit" she said and motioned me to sit on an empty rocking chair in the room while she sat on the bed herself. The scent of the leech who she had dated was still slightly prevalent in the air though my senses knew that it was years old and there was no danger. I wrinkled my nose a bit from the stench.

"Sorry" she said "Even Jake doesn't like sitting on that chair because of the smell. Edward used to sit there when I was with him. If you want you can sit somewhere else"

I shook my head "No it is okay, let's get this over with" I knew what was coming. She was going to insult me and tell me to leave, never to show my face again in this house saying that I did not deserve someone like Charlie. He did not need a broken messed up girl in his simple life.

I closed my eyes waiting for these exact words.

"Jake told me that you imprinted on Charlie"

I nodded my head

"Thank you"

I opened my eyes to look at her in shock. Did my ears deceive me or did she actually say 'thank you'.

"What" I mumbled

"I know it is the weirdest thing to thank a person for" she said with a nervous laugh "But thank you for imprinting on my father and giving him a second chance in life"

She continued when I did not interrupt "Leah, I am an imprint myself. I know how happy and in love I am with Jake and maybe we would have been together without the imprinting too but I am glad for it being there. Charlie has been alone for more than eighteen years. My mother left him when I was a few months old. He has never dated and never given himself the chance to move on. He was always in the hope that my mother would return one day and when she remarried he lost all hope"

She gave me a small smile "Charlie and I are not the best at showing emotions but I do worry about my old man you know. Jake and I will soon get married and then Charlie will again be left alone. This is a second chance for him, for you and I know that both of you will also be as happy as I am and as any other imprinted couple is"

"You are okay with this?" I whispered still in shock

She nodded her head "Yes, maybe I am not completely on board with the idea that my stepmother will just be two years older than me but Charlie will be happy and that is more important to me than this age difference. He will have someone to finally love and who will love him back"

"But you don't even like me?" I said stuttering

"That is not true" she said "I know you don't trust me Leah and you had a valid reason for it. I dated your mortal enemy after all and we have had our differences in the past but for me you are a member of the pack, this family. You know Leah, the one thing I craved most growing up, a family. Renee was more a best friend than a mother and seeing your father for two months a year and living with him are two very different things. That is exactly what the Cullen's had, a loving family and not having that growing up, I gravitated to their family. That is why I was so devastated when they left. Not only did my first love leave me but so did a family I considered mine. After meeting Jake and spending time with him and the pack, I got a family again. A family in which I am an equal and a family I know won't leave me. You may not see me as a part of the pack family but I do see you as a pack sister and Charlie will be getting all of this, what I now have. How can I not be happy for him?"

I was in awe of the woman sitting in front of me.

"Wow, you are a much better person than I am" I whispered

She shook her head and gave me a smile "No Leah, you have faced much more than me and maybe I too would have withered if I would have gone through this"

"I just want to forget all of this for some time but it is so hard. I still love Sam and I hate myself for being in love with him" I told her. I don't know why I was telling her all of this. We were not friends but I felt like I could trust her after she told me all of that. I had refrained from trusting anyone after Emily who had been my best friend betrayed me but maybe I could at least try to trust someone.

"That is why we get second chances Leah so that we can fall in love with the correct person after falling in love with the wrong one and just like a part of you will always love Sam, a part of me will always love Edward. He was my first love and the memories will always stay but that does not mean I don't love Jake. Our heart has the capacity to love more than once if you let it"

I nodded my head

"Have you ever thought about quitting phasing?"

"A lot of times, but it takes to much patience and calmness. You get angry once and all of your past control goes waste and you know me that happens to me a lot" I said with a slight laugh

She nodded her head "So when are you going to tell dad?"

"What"

She rolled her eyes "You have to give him the talk. I am a shape shifter and I have imprinted on you etc etc, so when are you going to tell him?"

I shook my head. No I can't tell him. He will reject me. I am broken. He will never accept me.

"Leah" she gave me a stern look "You are not a psychic. You have not seen the future. If you don't tell him, you will never know what his reaction will be"

"Did I say that out loud?" I asked her

She nodded her head. I sighed. Great, I was telling her all my secrets today. Might as well tell her the lie I said when I was eight.

"You know I too was apprehensive to give Jake a chance in the beginning. I could not see him as anything more than a younger brother or a best friend but after spending time with him and giving him that chance my feelings changed and yours and Charlie's will too"

I shook my head "I don't know"

"Okay, you don't need to take a decision right now. Think about it"

I nodded my head "Thank you"

She gave me a smile "Don't thank me after all, what are friends for?"

I reciprocated the smile. Maybe this was the start of a friendship.

"Leah, you ready to go?" said Jake coming inside the room. No doubt he heard every word of our conversation with the supernatural hearing.

I nodded my head and three of us went back downstairs where Charlie was sitting. After saying our goodbyes the both of us left the house and I gave Charlie a last lingering look which he reciprocated. My eyes never left his and his eyes never left mine as I walked towards the car. It was as if they were talking in a forbidden language that we could not dare to say aloud. I had never been a fan of the forbidden love stories but this moment surely felt like a page out of it.

I clutched my hand tightly when our car crossed the border and entered La Push. I was scared because every inch of my body wanted to turn the car and go back to Charlie and stay there with him forever and the intensity of my feelings terrified me. I felt my resolve weakening and I knew that I would not be able to stay away for long but I just hoped that when that day came, for once fate would be on my side.

X-X-X-X-X-X

I don't know what I had done to deserve friends like Jacob and Bella in my life but I was surely thankful for their presence. What I had considered a onetime occurrence, the chance to have dinner with my imprint had now become a bi weekly thing. Jacob had dinner with Charlie and Bella twice a week, every Tuesday and Friday and now I was too a part of those dinners. The first two times had been forced by an alpha order because of my reluctance but after that I waited for those days, I craved them. Jacob had to even change my patrolling schedule so that I was patrolling only with him and my thoughts would not be leaked. I was not yet ready to tell anyone from the pack or my mother. I knew it was cowardly but I was afraid of the judgments and the comments I would get.

The first time I had gone back with Jacob, Charlie had not said it aloud but his eyes had told me that he was happy and relieved to see me and a natural blush had covered my face. A blush I did not even think I had anymore. Every time a few more words were spoken between us, a new level of understanding and trust passing between us. We spoke about work, sports, our likes, dislikes and everything in between. After a point it did not even matter if Jacob and Bella were in the room or not. Charlie was there with me and that is what mattered.

The biggest change in me had been that I had started smiling. I had started humming to the songs that my mother played on the stereo in her room and a part of me even wanted to dance like there was no tomorrow. I was happy for the first time in months. I no longer scowled at every passing person and the pack had started giving me weird looks for that. But everything had changed and I was different and for once I felt like living and laughing. I guess I had reverted back to the girl I had once been, the girl who had a booming carefree laugh and who did not shy away from smiling.

Today was Friday and the day to have dinner with my Charlie. His eyes always would shine with unspoken happiness when they met mine after a gap of even a day as if they were waiting for me to come back to him.

I was getting ready in my room when Seth knocked at the door.

"Leah, can I talk to you for a minute?"

I nodded my head

He took a deep breath "You have imprinted right?"

I looked at him in shock. How did he know? Did… Did Jacob break his promise of not telling anyone?

"I am not stupid Lee. I know you and you have been happier than ever these days. I am just guessing that you have imprinted but I know for a fact that you are in love"

His words hit me like a ton of bricks. A realization that had never happened to me before this moment made its way in my mind.

Holy shit! I am in love. I am in freaking love with Charlie Swan.

I just stood there staring at him with my mouth open. I could not believe this.

"Lee, are you okay? You are kind of scaring me" said Seth coming closer to where I was standing

"I am in love Seth" I whispered

"Yeah Leah I know" he said confused

"I am in love" I repeated. I wanted to keep saying this again. It was a freeing feeling as if my insides were bursting with joy. I felt like a huge burden had been lifted off my shoulders. A few stray tears fell down my eyes but for a change they were not because of sadness.

"Leah, have you imprinted or have you fallen in love without the imprint?" he asked me. His eyes filled with concern making him look much older than his fifteen years of age. After our father died, Seth had matured too much too early to become 'the man of this family'. But he was still my annoying baby brother who would follow me as a toddler everywhere and I knew without a doubt that I could trust him.

I nodded my head "I have imprinted"

He gave me a huge grin and a hug that rivaled it.

"I am so happy for you Lee" he said shouting. I was just glad my mother was not home at the moment. Telling one person was enough for the day.

"Thank you" I whispered

"So who is it? Does he know? When do I get to meet him?" he asked one question after the other.

"Calm down Seth" "No he does not know yet and hopefully you will meet him soon"

"Who is it?" he asked, his tone completely serious now

I took a deep breath. This was it, the moment of truth.

"Seth please don't freak out" I told him pleadingly "I imprinted on Charlie"

"Charlie, who" he asked "The guy from the gas station?"

I shook my head and his eyes widened

"Chief Charlie Swan?" he almost whispered

I nodded my head

He was quiet for a few minutes, his face a myriad of expressions. I was truly terrified of his reaction and I waited impatiently for him to open his mouth. He and my mother were two people whose approval did matter and I wanted them to be happy for me.

Finally he sighed and gave me a smile "So when are you going to formally introduce me to him?"

"Seth" I looked at him in shock. That was the last thing I had probably expected at this moment.

"What Lee? I can see that this imprinting is good for you and you are happy. You are like you were before…" he trailed off

"You can say Sam's name" I said giving him a small smile. Saying his name and thinking about him did not cause me any pain any more. He was a part of my past but nothing more than that. My present was Charlie and hopefully my future was him too.

"What has Charlie Swan done to my sister?" he said with feigned shock "You have mellowed down Lee. You are not the pack bitch any longer. Who will give it back to Paul when he passes his irritating comments now?"

I hit him on the arm and both of us started laughing. It felt so good to laugh with him again like we were kids again.

"Tell him soon Leah. He needs to know"

I nodded my head. I guess subconsciously I had accepted the imprint long back but I was waiting to realize it. The hope that maybe he too felt something for me gave me the courage to tell him and I would tell him soon.

I hugged Seth before leaving the house when Jacob came to pick me up as always and we made our way to the Swan house in silence.

As always Bella opened the door and let us in and Charlie gave me a beautiful smile as he saw me which made me blush. Jacob and Charlie started watching baseball and Bella pulled me in the kitchen with her. In these past few days she had really become a good friend to me, a friend I could trust.

"You are glowing" she said as I shrugged "Seems like you are in love"

"You knew?" I asked her surprised

She nodded her head "Both Jake and I knew but we were waiting for you to figure it out on your own"

"So you accept the imprint?" she asked

I nodded my head "I do" it felt so good to finally say it out loud.

She gave me a huge smile and a warm hug "Welcome to the family"

"But Charlie…?"

She rolled her eyes "Dad is as confused as you were. But don't worry he won't be able to stay far for long. I am surprised how he managed to so far"

"What do you mean?" I asked curiously

"Leah, do you really think the imprint works only one way? The imprint feels the pull too to the wolf. Why do you think I spent so much time on the res in Jake's garage? Yes I liked him but being near him was soothing"

I nodded my head

"You need to tell him soon"

I nodded my head again. I knew I had to do so.

"Come on, let's go and have dinner" she said pulling me out with her

We were just about to sit at the table when I saw Bella give Jacob a look and a nod of the head but I ignored it.

"Oh crap" said Jacob "I just remembered I had to meet Old Quil today evening for some work. Sorry Charlie but I will have to leave"

"At least eat dinner, then go" said Charlie

"Sorry Charlie. It is very urgent" he said apologetically

He was almost at the door when Bella called him "Jake, you remember Emily had told me to give her the recipe for my chocolate chip cookies? Wait I will come with you to give the recipe to her" she said nervously

"Bells" said Charlie

"Sorry dad. You know my truck hardly starts these days. Jake is already going to the res, he will give me a ride and I will eat something at Emily's. You know she always cooks extra. I will be back in some time. You both continue with the dinner. No reason to spoil it."

Before Charlie or I could say anything, both of them were out of the house. Jacob winked at me before leaving. Those little shits planned this and these were the best excuses they came up with? Are you serious?

Charlie coughed once "Come on, let's have dinner"

We sat opposite one another nibbling on the food in silence though even the silence was soothing instead of awkward. Soon I asked him about his day and the conversation between us started, easy, how it had been for the past few weeks now.

After dinner, we worked side by side in the kitchen, cleaning everything. His arm accidently brushed mine a few times and electricity passed through my veins. I never wanted this night to end.

Every time his eyes met mine, I could see an unspoken question in them and finally I decided that if he would not take the lead I would.

"Will you go out on a date with me Charlie?"


	4. Chapter 4

Thank you YaleAceBella12, MammaNita4, catgrl, Brankel1 and Sarae32 for your reviews.

'_Our Souls already know each other, don't they?' he whispered 'It's our bodies that are new'_

_Karen Ross_

Chapter 4-

Every time his eyes met mine, I could see an unspoken question in them and finally I decided that if he would not take the lead I would.

"Will you go out on a date with me Charlie?"

Time stood still as I gazed into the eyes of the man who held my heart waiting for his answer, pleading that for once, the spirits would be by my side and my luck would finally change. The cycle of pain and loneliness that had been my life for the past one year would finally pass to give way for the ocean of happiness and love. Everyone had got their happy ending and I craved mine desperately.

He just stood there staring in front of me not emitting a word out of his mouth. His soft plump lips tightly shut and his eyes widened in confusion and mild shock. For the hundredth time I resisted the urge to run my hands through his silky curly brown hair, I wanted to feel his soft lips on mine till they left me with swollen lips and let him wrap his strong muscular arms around my torso pulling me close to him as he kissed my neck and sucked on my earlobe. I wanted all of that. I needed all of that.

I never knew how strong the desire to be with the one you love could be, how much you could crave another person's body. I wanted nothing more at this moment than to let him throw me on the couch and do things with me that I had only dreamt of, like we were a bunch of horny teenagers.

I had always thought that what I felt for Sam was love but if that was love then this was much more. It was encompassing and completed me like I had never been before. How had I managed to survive so long without feeling this, I had no idea but I did not want to go a minute more being incomplete.

The chiming of the wall clock was the only sound I could hear in this house as we stood there in silence for what felt like eternity. My sensitive hears could pick up the sound of his heart beating and it was beating much faster than usual. In this short while that I had known Charlie, I had come to realize that he was a man of few words, a man who thought of the consequences before he took an action and a man who was happy to solve his problems on his own without the help of others but he never let anyone in, in the true depths of his heart. No one knew what was going on in the head and heart of Charles Swan and he was a mystery to all. I wanted to be the one who knew him better than she knew herself. I wanted to be the one he came to when he was happy and wanted to spread his joy, when he was sad and wanted a shoulder to cry on and when he just needed someone to stand by him and love him for who he was. I wanted all of that. I wanted a family, I wanted marriage and I so did want children, two small little children, a boy and a girl running around and playing in the front yard of this very house, the boy younger than the girl chasing his older sister with his chubby little feet. Both of their heads covered with curly brown hair like their fathers and their skin a shade closer to mine. They running into my waiting arms as I twirled them around laughing loudly when I heard their soft giggles as their father came and wrapped his arms around the three of us protecting us and loving us.

A smile crept onto my face as my heart told me what it desired but it was soon followed by sadness on the realization that this dream of mine could never come true. The elders had a theory on why I was the only female to phase and why my ex fiancée had imprinted on my cousin instead of me and they had in no easy words told me that I was in fact barren and the wolf gods knew that I could never have given Sam a child, leaving the Uley line without a heir and that was the reason why I had phased too, there was no need for me not too. I had cried in my room and shouted outside of it for days removing my frustration on anyone who was stupid enough to cross my path. The future that I had always dreamt of since I was possibly a mere thirteen year old having her first serious crush, who I wanted to spend my life with, was destroyed within seconds. I could never be a mother, my womb would never be filled and there would be no moment of complete happiness on seeing my child for the first time after bearing the pain of getting that child into this world. I would never get any of that.

I had not even realized that I was crying till I felt a warm hand wipe my tears that had fallen on my cheeks. I had managed in this past one year to never cry in front of another. For the outside world I was the ice cold Leah Clearwater who had no feelings apart from anger but on the inside, I was just a nineteen year old girl who was terrified of rejection and felt my heart break every time I saw my cousin with the man I had loved for so long, every time I visited my father's grave I cried and apologized to him for taking away his life by giving him a shock that his weak heart had not been able to bear and every time I exploded into that small grey wolf, a part of me cried for that girl who wanted to leave La Push to pursue a career in teaching and to marry her high school sweetheart and live somewhere where she was free to spread her wings and fly.

"Shh" crooned a soft voice in my ears as the owner of that voice pulled me towards the living room and made me sit on his couch.

"I will get you some water" he said moving towards the kitchen but I stopped him by touching him on the arm spreading tingles throughout my body.

"Please Stay" I whispered. The walls I had tightly kept before me crumbled today leaving the vulnerable me exposed. I could not stop crying even if I wanted to. All those tears that I had refused to shed were now coming tumbling down.

He nodded his head hesitantly before sitting next to me.

He let me cry for I don't know how long, offering his silent support and a few calming words spoken a few times. A part of me wanted to die of embarrassment, I never behaved like this but another small part of mine just wanted to let it all out. Charlie deserved to know that I had a lot of baggage on me and if after I told him, he chose to stay away, I would accept his decision even if it physically killed me.

"I am sorry" I said after a while "You must think I am such a mess. I don't generally behave like this" I said with a small laugh trying to hide my embarrassment.

"Leah, there is nothing wrong in crying. Sometimes all of us need to just let it out. You can only truly move on in life after you finish letting it go" he said looking at me with concern in his eyes. I was surprised when I did not find an ounce of judgment in his brown eyes like he knew what he was talking about. A part of my mind reminded me that obviously he knew about heartbreak. He had faced his own demons just like I had faced mine and both of us were very similar in this manner, we never gave ourselves the chance to move on, we clutched to something that was never ours to keep in the first place, only giving ourselves more pain in the process. Maybe that is why I imprinted on him because he was one person who completely understood what I was going through as he had been through it too. We understood one another and maybe, just maybe we could be the one to heal one another's wounds.

I nodded my head and the both of us sat in silence for the next few minutes

He gave out a small cough "Did you really mean that?"

"What" I whispered confused

"You asked me to go out on a date with you" he nervously stuttered

I nodded my head "Yes I did" I was not ashamed of my feelings for him and I had a feeling that he liked me too and if he was hesitant to do anything about it than I would take the first step.

"Why?" he whispered so low as if it was not meant for my ears

"Why what"

He looked confused that I had heard him and cleared his throat "Why do you want to date me?" he asked hesitantly as if he was scared that I would start laughing any minute telling him that this was a prank.

I looked at him perplexed "Because I have feelings for you Charlie" I shouted "And I have a feeling that you like me too or at least I hope you do"

He was quiet for a few minutes "Why me? I am your father's age for heaven's sake or is this some kind of phase for you where you are attracted to older men?" he asked with uncertainty in his voice. At that point a well placed mask that was covering his face from letting out his actual emotions fell and I could see the vulnerability and loneliness in his eyes. He was afraid of being left alone again, of his heart being stomped to pieces again and he was afraid of loving someone and then not getting the love and companionship he deserved in return.

I don't know what overtook me but I took his head in my hands and lightly caressed his cheeks as he leaned into my hand, closing his eyes.

"Charlie, this is not a phase for me. I really do like you and I want to get to know you and spend time with you" I said softly "Age does not matter for me. We are both consenting adults and what we do is none of anyone else's business. I am just asking you for one chance to get to know you, one date and then if you decide that you don't want anything to do with me, I will never disturb you again" I said probably taking the biggest risk of my life. I could only hope at this moment that Charlie felt something similar for me as I felt for him.

He looked into my eyes and I could see the fear and nervousness in them before he shook his head looking at the floor.

I took my hand back from his cheek and stood up from the couch as fast as I could. Of course he would reject me. How could I even think that someone like him would like me back? I was too damaged, broken goods. My heart tightened in pain. My imprint had rejected me. My wolf was wailing inside me. A part of her was dying her mate had rejected her but the human side of me refused to shed tears. No I was strong, this was not the first thing gone wrong in my short life of twenty one years and this would probably not be the last. The spirits wanted to keep testing me they could surely keep doing so. I was not going to give up. I had accepted the fate of being alone and bitter for the rest of my life long back. This had felt like a second chance, a new beginning but alas I guess I was wrong. Some people do not get second chances and maybe I was meant to be one of those.

I mumbled a sorry before turning my back and heading towards the door. I was a fool for falling in love and accept this imprint. I was a fool for trusting Bella Swan and Jacob Black and I was a fool for letting my heart move on from Sam. I was correct when I thought that I don't deserve happiness.

Before I could open the front door a pale hand touched my hand stopping me. The contrast between his skin color and my copper skin color was beautiful to see and my heart clenched in pain once more.

"I am not rejecting you" he whispered softly coming and standing in front of me cupping my cheeks "I am terrified of the intensity of my feelings for you. I have never felt this way for anyone and it frightens me. These past few weeks that I have spent with you have been the best days of my life and I am scared that everything will change if I act on my feelings for you. I am scared that I will not be able to let you go"

"I am scared too. This is all new for me too" I whispered as he lightly caressed every inch of my face with his hands. I could feel the attraction in the air and the tingles his touch caused in my body.

"Leah, I have a lot of baggage on me and I don't know how to do all of this. I have not dated anyone in decades. You deserve better than me. You deserve someone young who treats you like the goddess you are, not a middle aged nervous man"

"I have my set of baggage too Charlie and maybe we will balance it out for one another. I am not a high maintenance girl and whatever you do from your heart will be enough for me and I don't think you are old, you look pretty damn good for your age" I said blushing

He gave me a smile "Are you sure about this? I really like you a lot Leah and I want to give you the chance while you still have it"

I nodded my head "I am sure about this. I want this."

"But what about your family and friends and other people of Forks, people will talk and they may not be comfortable with this" he said hesitantly pointing between us both

"Charlie as I said, we both are adults. I like you and you like me. What we do is none of anyone else's business. Please don't stop us from being happy because of someone else's thoughts on us"

He took a deep breath before nodding his head "I may be crazy for thinking this but I want to give us a chance. Ever since the first time you came for dinner with Jake here, I don't know why I have felt so attracted to you and I guess it is too late to stop myself now. Are you okay with this?"

I gave him a huge smile and nodded my head and he reciprocated my smile

"Be ready at six tomorrow. I will pick you up from your place unless you want me to meet you somewhere else" he asked

I shook my head "I am not afraid of letting the world know of my feelings. I don't want us to hide"

He nodded his head as we stood there gazing at one another in silence.

X-X-X-X

Come the next day I was a bundle of nerves. I just could not concentrate on anything and kept fidgeting. I felt like I was going on my first date ever again. I was so restless at work and kept messing stuff that finally Joy Ateara told me to go home and come back tomorrow when I was less nervous and could actually be of any help in the store. Quil who was also on his shift at that time kept giving me suspicious looks but luckily did not ask me anything. He reminded me of another major problem, telling the pack about the imprint. I knew that I would have to tell them soon before they found out through the pack mind. As of now only Jacob and Seth knew but after this date, I would tell everyone else. I did not care what they thought about the imprint. I was happy and Charlie was happy. The only people whose opinion mattered were Seth and my mother and I would soon tell my mother too.

I ignored his curious looks and walked towards my house which was a ten minute walk.

"Leah, is that you?" asked my mother from the kitchen as I entered the house using my key

I muttered a 'yeah' before going towards my room

"I was just leaving for the clinic. Should I make you something to eat?" she asked standing at the door of my room.

I shook my head "I was thinking of going for a run. It has been a few days. What time will you be back?" I asked her wanting to know if she would be at home when I left for my date.

"I will be late tonight. I have a longer shift today" she said sighing. My mother was one of the very few nurses at the tribal clinic and was also the head nurse. Before the Cullen leeches moved to town, she used to work at Forks hospital but soon resigned from there and started working at the tribal clinic which was suddenly very short of staff as none of the Quileute's would go to Forks hospital any longer to get treated because of Dr. Fang. Even after they left, she had continued with her job at the clinic though many were now going to Forks hospital again. She was also the official pack doctor/nurse as we could not rely on anyone else for our injuries. Whenever the wound was serious and could not only be treated by our fast healing, Sue Clearwater would be called.

I nodded my head bringing myself back to the present and she soon left the room after a few more minutes of small talk telling me that Seth was at Brady's playing video games and would be back soon.

I lied down on my bed and closed my eyes. A million emotions were passing through me. I was nervous, excited, worrisome, elated and slightly insecure too. What if Charlie realized that I was not worth his liking and time? What if he found me immature and wanted someone closer to his age? What if my secrets became too much for him to handle?

I groaned and cursed Sam for making me into this under confident shell of the person I was. I had never had low confidence issues growing up and all these insecurities had stemmed from him dumping me for my cousin making me feel like there was something wrong in me. Though now I knew the actual reason at that time I had not known it and it had been a serious hit to my confidence and I had put a mask of indifference and hatred to cover my insecurities.

I groaned again and hid my face in the pillow. No, I have to be optimistic. Charlie likes me, he said so himself and I have always been more mature for my age. Everything will work out. It has too. This is my second chance and I have a feeling that this time everything will change for the better.

I got out of the bed and ran down the stairs towards my backyard. I rarely phased these days anymore, with there being no vampire sightings in months patrolling was minimal and all the older pack members were thinking of retiring to grow old with their imprints. Sam and Jared both wanted to quit. Paul was trying too but his anger always led him to phase unexpectedly and on one small comment made against him, most probably by me, he would explode. Sometimes it was so bad that Rachel would threaten him that he will have to wear his old tuxedo, that he wore to his prom and roam around if he destroys anymore clothes of his to which he would cockily answer that he could always roam around naked making me gag. He was always on his last pair of shoes too. He would still take years to get his anger into control so that he could stop phasing.

Jacob had no plans of quitting yet and Embry, Seth, Collin and Brady were going to phase till they found their imprints and Quil was the only one who was going to phase another fifteen years or so till Claire grew up so that they could physically look of the same age. That left me, the lone she wolf of this pack. No one knew why I phased and no one knew if I could quit. The pack had made bets in the past saying that quitting to phase for me would be as difficult as it was for Paul as I had a temper that rivaled his and a few weeks ago I would have agreed to them but now It was different. I wanted to quit so that I could get back my femininity that I had lost on the way, I wanted to grow my hair again and most importantly I wanted to grow old with Charlie and for that I would have to start ageing again. From the past few days my wolf had been too blissful in the company of her mate and had not created the urge in me to phase and run these woods.

I stood in the backyard and undressed myself tying my clothes on my ankle so that they would not tear when I phased. Being a shape shifter losing pair of clothes was an everyday occurrence and like all others, I was on my last pairs and could not risk ruining another set.

I quickly thought of myself in my wolf form and soon I felt my body change and I was now on four legs instead of two and my sight and hearing was much clearer than before. I could smell the wet grass below my feet and the lushness of the woods was calling to me.

I checked in the pack mind and was relieved to see that it was empty before I started running in whichever direction the wind took me.

My thoughts circled around Charlie and my wolf was anticipating the day when she would get to meet her mate. Just like Charlie was my imprint, he was hers too and she wanted to spend time with him. I told her that that would definitely take a while to accomplish. All of us in the pack shared a special bond with our wolves and could often talk to them in our minds. They were a part of us but were also a separate entity in themselves and just like the human side of ours, they had their desires too. But it was simpler. The wolf's needs were pack, shelter, food and mate and that was also why fighting the imprint was so hard because the wolf demanded that their mate be with them. Jacob's wolf as the alpha wolf and my wolf as the she-wolf also craved respect from others with the rest of the needs.

I was the fastest in the pack followed by Seth and Embry and I took pride in this fact. I ran towards Canada taking in the freedom that running freely provided me. Often in the beginning after my first phase I would run for hours in whichever direction my wolf chose to clear my mind. It was the only way I could give myself space and freedom from a world that I had not chosen for myself.

My mind diverted towards those days when I was bitter about anything and everything and I quickly changed the direction of my thoughts as after sunset, there is a sunrise and my life was finally looking good. I had an imprint that I loved and who admitted that he too had feelings for me. I had good friends in Jacob and Bella who I could trust. I had a brother who had been my support through thick and thin and I had a job at the Ateara General store, however mundane it was it kept me occupied.

I ran the short distance to Canada before returning back home and phasing to human in my backyard. Suddenly I scented strawberry and freesias from inside my house. This was Bella's scent. What was she doing here? Charlie's scent was more muscular and had a woodsy and musky tinge to it that drove me wild.

I walked inside my house to see what my newest best friend wanted right now. Yikes, a statement I never thought I would use in respect to Bella Swan but I guess time changes things and the past few weeks and her supporting me after I imprinted on her father out of everyone had made my arch enemy become my good friend.

"Do you know what time it is?" she glared at me from the couch she was sitting on

I shrugged before looking at the wall clock in the room

Fuck, it was already 5:15. I had lost track of time while running. Charlie was picking me up at six. I was all sweaty at the moment and I had not even decided about what I was going to wear. Crap now what?

"Stop over thinking" said Bella "I knew you would need help in getting ready so here I am"

I gave her a look muttering "Excuse me" to which she rolled her eyes

"Go take a shower. I will remove something for you to wear from your cupboard"

I was about to protest when she said "Only forty minutes left Leah, Charlie is very punctual" pointing at her watch

I nodded my head before running to the bathroom. I could always get back at her for this sometime later but right now I needed to get ready for my date. That was my first priority.

After a quick shower I rushed to my room where Bella was waiting with a pair of skinny jeans and a silk top I had not worn in ages. The last time I had worn this was when I had been dating Sam.

"Do you want me to search something else for you?" she asked when she saw my expression and I shook my head. It was time to make new memories not focus on the past.

After getting ready and wearing light jewelery and a pair of black heels, Bella did my make up for me before drying my hair and letting them fall naturally as there was not much we could do with them anyway.

I took a deep breath before looking at myself in the mirror. I was astonished to see that I actually did look good, like my older self and nothing like the bitter harpy I had been since months. Bella had done an excellent job.

"Why did you so much for me?" I whispered curiously

She shrugged "I knew you needed a friend"

"Aren't you grossed out after all I am getting ready to go out with your father?" I said jokingly

"Just don't give me details and we will be fine" she said shaking her head making me laugh

"Thank you" I whispered hugging her

She hugged me back for a few minutes before she looked at her watch and sighed

"I have to leave. Charlie will be here in sometime and he can't see me here. I have told him I am staying the night at Angela's and in his eyes know nothing about this date"

I nodded my head and she soon left the house.

I had just managed to calm my nerves and was waiting in the living room when Seth, Collin and Brady entered the house and Seth whistled looking at me "Looking good sis"

I rolled my eyes hiding my blush

"Leah" stuttered Collin, his eyes wide. Even Brady was staring at me like he was seeing an alien

I gave them a bored annoyed look.

Brady pinched himself once before mumbling that this was in fact not a dream

"Are you going somewhere?" asked Collin nervously as if he was afraid of my answer

I gave him an exasperated look "I have a date"

Both of them looked even more shocked than before and Seth sighed before pulling them towards the couch and switching on the TV.

They still kept looking at me from their peripheral vision and were least interested in the game that was going on for once. Seth had just ordered Pizzas when the doorbell rang and I froze. The door was in direct view of the couch and as I opened it Collin and Brady would know who my date was. I looked at Seth who stared at me in shock realizing this at the same time as me.

The doorbell rang again and I took a step ahead. There was no time now. The first two from the pack to know of my imprinting apart from Seth and Jacob would be the two pups who were also the biggest gossipers of this pack. By the end of tonight I was sure that everyone would know.

I took a deep breath and turned back to look at Seth "Tell them"

He nodded his head and I quickly ran to open the door with a smile on my face


	5. Chapter 5

'_I may not be your first love, first kiss, first sight, or first date but I just want to be your last everything'_

Chapter 5-

Charlie was standing there looking even more dapper than usual and it looked as if he had taken the effort to dress up.

"Hey" I whispered

"Hey" he said back "Oh these are for you" he said handing me a bouquet of purple carnations

I blushed profusely and he led me towards Bella's red pickup truck

"I did not think you would be comfortable roaming around in a police cruiser" he said looking at my confused expression before he opened my side of the door for me as we reached the truck making me blush even harder

"And I thought Chivalry was dead" I said as we sat in the truck

He shrugged "I am old fashioned man, Leah"

He started the truck and started driving towards Forks

"Where are we going?"

"I was thinking of this restaurant in Port Angeles. My deputies have told me that it is very good"

I nodded my head

"Oh before I forget" he said nervously "You look very beautiful today" he added before he mumbled under his breath that he had to say this when he gave me the flowers and was an idiot for forgetting to compliment me.

I blushed at the compliment

"Did you by chance take tips from your deputies?" I asked giggling

He turned crimson "I did not know who else to ask"

"You are very cute" I mumbled laughing before putting my hand at my mouth

"Well that's a first. I have never been called cute"

I gave him a smile "You are"

"Can I take your hand in mine?" he whispered

I nodded my head as he intertwined my fingers with him bringing a smile on my face.

He drove the short distance as usual conversation flowed between us. Many people believed that Charlie did not speak much but in reality he was just more observant and did not believe in senseless conversation. He told me about his work and the unusual cases he got at times making me laugh. I told him about the pack and their antics and we spoke of other things like hobbies, movies, likes, dislikes, a bit about our families' etcetera.

He soon parked the truck outside a seafood restaurant that was facing the waterfront and took my hand in his again as we walked inside. The interiors were nicely done and it had a very scenic feel to it.

We sat at a table for two and Charlie again showed me what a gentleman he was when he let me order first when the waitress came to take our order. After ordering we again started conversing as usual and there was not a second of awkward silence between us. Charlie kept complimenting me a few times and his eyes told me that he was being genuine and really believed it which made me blush. No man had ever made me feel so beautiful like he made me feel.

After dinner he led me outside and asked me if I wanted to take a walk with him to which I nodded my head. It was a chilly night in Port Angeles and I could feel the temperature dropping even though it did not affect me.

"Here take my coat" he said removing his coat

I shook my head. I did not feel the cold but Charlie did.

"I don't need it"

"Take it. I don't want you to shiver" he said with finality in his voice, a voice which told me that I should not argue with him because I would lose the argument irrespective.

I smiled and took the coat from him wrapping it around my shoulders and breathing into the wonderful musky scent of my mate.

He was walking on the outside of the sidewalk as if to protect me from any passing vehicles and the gesture almost brought tears to my eyes. No one had ever offered to protect me till now. Everyone just assumed that a protector like me did not need to be protected from anything. Roaming around with nine teenage boys, people almost forgot that I was a girl and I did like to be pampered and treated like a woman at times. The pack just saw me as one of the boys and some of them did not even take the effort to pretend that I was a woman, slightly tomboyish but still a woman who wanted to be treated like one at times.

He took my hand in his as we walked side by side.

"Tell me about Sam, Harry had told me that you were engaged to him" he said "Only if you are comfortable talking about it" he added quickly

I nodded my head. I knew that we would soon have to talk about our past. Both of our pasts had held a huge part of our life and we would have to tell one another about it in order to truly move on.

"We were good friends growing up even though he is a year older than me. When I was fourteen I realized that my feelings for him were of more than friendship and I started looking at him in a new light. Soon even his feelings grew and we started dating by my fifteenth birthday. We had been dating for close to four years when he proposed, asking me to marry him. We were young and in love and thought that marriage was the best course for us, how wrong had we been?" I snorted derisively "A few months after our engagement he disappeared for a few weeks and when he came back, he was a completely different person. We tried being together for a few more months but I had a feeling that he was hiding something from me and that led to a few fights between us. My cousin Emily came over from the Makah reservation to try and help us solve our differences and they both fell in love" I said shrugging at the end. Talking about Sam and Emily was not as painful as it had been before. Yes it still hurt but not more than a pinch, a pinch of betrayal that he cheated on me with her. All these months I had spent in hating them both and wishing all sorts of ills on them but now I just detested them for their actions. I could understand imprinting better and I could even try to accept their imprint but the fact that he slept with her before breaking up with me was what hurt me more and for that I would never be able to give them my forgiveness.

"I am so sorry. That is terrible" he said looking at me with concern "I remember when he had disappeared. Harry had been extremely worried that you were not eating or sleeping properly"

I gave him a small smile "Tell me about Renee"

He took a deep breath "During my first summer as a cop, I met Renee Higginbotham. She was driving up the Pacific Highway with a group of her friends, and they stopped to camp at First Beach. I was visiting Billy at that time and met her. It was instant attraction between us both. We spent a few days together before she left with her friends. She promised to return soon and in her absence I realized that I had fallen for her. When she returned we started dating and I proposed to which she accepted. We got married in the courthouse in Port Angeles a few weeks later. A few months later we found out that Bella was going to be born and I could not be any happier. During her pregnancy things changed for the worse and both my parents fell ill. They needed me to look after them and I could not give Renee enough time. She was depressed and wanted us to leave Forks which I could not. A few months after Bella was born, she left with her saying that she could not do this anymore. I wanted to go with her but my parents needed me here. We got divorced and my daughter was taken away from me. I could only see her a few times in the year. If at that time Billy and Harry had not pulled me out of my depression and forced me to go to work, I don't think I would be alive today" he said with a nervous laugh

"I am sorry" I said squeezing his hand that was still in my hand

He gave me a small smile

"Tell me about Bella when she was growing up. I remember meeting her as kids but she always roamed around with Jacob and Quil and I with the twins"

His smile widened as he told me stories about when she used to visit and how clumsy she was. At least once during every visit she would have to be rushed to the ER and how he used to cook her favorite dishes for her and tuck her in bed every night. Charlie was a very devoted father and I could see how much it pained him that he had not been able to give Bella enough time growing up and even after she moved here, she had been too engrossed in Cullen to give her father the time of the day. At least now she lived with him and they shared a good relationship after all these years.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked him and he nodded his head "Why did you never move on from Renee?"

A part of me hated Renee already without even meeting her because she had been the reason that Charlie faced so much pain though another part of mine knew that not all relationships are meant to work out and sometimes things do go wrong in a marriage and it is better to separate than to stay in a loveless marriage.

"Why did you never move on from Sam till now?" he asked me in return

"Maybe I was waiting for you" I said not even thinking about the answer. My heart knew the answer to this already.

"And maybe I was waiting for you" he said as our eyes met and smiles adorned our faces.

We walked back to the truck in silence, our hands still intertwined and he again opened the door for me so that I could get inside. We drove back in silence. No words needed to be spoken. He knew what I felt and I knew what was going on in his mind. I don't know if that was an imprint thing or was it just between us both but I knew that he felt it as much as I did. There was intensity between us that showed whenever we looked into one another's eyes. I could lose myself in his chocolate brown eyes and everything I had felt for another before this moment felt so miniscule in front of my love and attraction to Charlie.

He parked the truck outside my house and he came to my side, walking us to the front door. This had most probably been the best night of my life and Charlie treated me like a queen not like an abnormally that others saw me to be. He made me feel like a beautiful woman not like the twenty one year old who roamed around wearing shorts and tank tops in the woods with nine other boys and always had a scowl on her face. I felt like smiling and laughing when I was in his presence.

"I had a great time today, Leah"

I nodded my head "Me too. This was probably the best night of my life"

He came closer to me and I gladly moved ahead towards him. I was suddenly glad that we had no neighbors and my mother was working late tonight. Seth was rarely ever at home irrespective. I closed my eyes when we were standing right opposite one another and he wrapped his arms around me. His lips were just about to touch mine fulfilling my fantasies when I heard a very familiar and scary voice

"Get your filthy hands off my daughter, you pervert"

I opened my eyes as Charlie took two steps back in shock. My mother was standing right outside the house with a fuming expression on her face.

"Mom calm down there is an explanation for this" oh why had I not bothered to tell her about the imprinting before. This was not how this night was supposed to end.

She laughed a bitter laugh "I know. You know who called me up today evening while I was at work?"

She continued when I did not answer "Emily Young, you want to know why? She wanted to congratulate me on my daughter finding her 'mate'" She spat it out like it was a bad word.

Fucking Emily, why does she have to butt in her nose everywhere? This did not even concern her. She just wants to act like she is little Ms perfect who knows everything and thinks everyone else's business is her own business.

"She told me how happy she was that you would now understand the power of imprinting and how Sam and she had no choice in it because you have found the one for you" she shouted

"Sue, let's take this inside the house" said Charlie

She shook her head "Filth like you will not enter my house and have you no shame Charles Swan? She is your daughter's age for god's sake."

I could see the hurt and insecurity on Charlie's face and stood in front of him "Mom"

"I am not done yet" she said laughing a maniacal laugh "You want to know what I told her? I told her that my daughter is in the misconception that she has imprinted when she has not. She has been brainwashed but I will get her back to how she was"

I saw Jacob and Seth coming towards us. Jacob came and stood next to me while Seth went to console mom who was crying now.

"Mom, is everything okay?" asked Seth worriedly

She shook her head "My daughter believes that her soul mate is a man her father's age and you are asking me if I am okay right now? No the council will not approve of this. We will find a way to break this imprint and get Leah to how she was. There has to be some way out."

"Get me back to what mom? To the bitter hopeless woman I was?" I asked my voice depicting how hurt I was from her words. I could not believe that my mother would think like this for me.

"Sue, you know you cannot interfere in an imprint. It is against the laws" said Jacob towering over all of us. His voice firm and filled with authority.

"And you were the one who always said that an imprint cannot be broken and we have to accept it" said Seth

"I will not let her ruin her life" she shouted "He is twice her age"

"Sue, this is neither the place nor the time for such a discussion" said Charlie "And will someone tell me what on earth is imprinting and what is going on?"

This was a cluster fuck. Today's day was going so perfect. Why did it have to end like this?

"She is a werewolf Charlie, a shape shifter" shouted my mother "Who believes that you are her soul mate because apparently her wolf chose you" she said with a disgusted expression on her face

I could see Jacob take his head in his hands and I wanted to do the same. Charlie looked from Jacob to me to Seth for a few minutes. His disbelieving eyes staring at us.

"You" he said pointing at Jacob "I want answers"

Jacob nodded his head "Not here Charlie. Let's go back to my place"

Charlie looked at me one last time before following Jacob towards the red quaint house.

My mother soon turned back and walked inside the house pouring a drink out for herself.

"Mom what the fuck was that all about?" I asked as I stormed into the house

She ignored me before sitting on the bar stool.

"Answer me? How could you treat Charlie like this? He is one of your oldest friends" I was horrified by her behavior.

She snorted "Some friend he is. I will not let you make a mockery out of your life Leah. He is twenty one years older than you, has been married and divorced and has a daughter who is your age"

"So? We are both mature adults mom who can take decisions for themselves"

She laughed a bitter laugh again "This is the imprint talking, not you"

"No mom, this is me" I said shaking my head "The wolf likes him too but I love him"

She gulped down her drink in one go before pouring herself another one

"And have you thought about me, about your dead father, god bless his soul, about Seth before stating that you love that man. We live on a small reservation Leah. People will talk and not everyone will support this madness of yours without knowing that you have imprinted on him"

I looked at her in shock. My mouth opened and closed a few times but no words came out. I could not believe that the woman standing in front of me was my mother.

"Mom, this is very unfair. She imprinted on him and you know that every imprinting leads to love" said Seth trying to calm her down "Maybe they will be an unconventional couple but so will Quil and Claire when Claire grows up. They will have an age difference too and till I remember you were supportive of that and said that the spirits know what they are doing then how is this different from that?"

She gulped her drink before harshly putting it down. Her entire facial expression changed and she looked morose now.

"He was supposed to be my second chance dammit. I loved him since so long. It was not supposed to happen this way" she yelled

"What are you talking about mom?" asked Seth confused

She sighed "Charlie, Harry and I had always been good friends growing up and I had feelings for Charlie but he never saw me in that way. He was too busy with his career to notice how fascinated I was with him. When Harry proposed I accepted. I was too tired of being alone and the love of my life not noticing me. We soon got married and things became better, I got pregnant with you Leah and we were happy then that Bitch Renee came here and suddenly every thought of Charlie's was about her. He never looked at me how he looked at her or how he looked at you today" she spat out "After their divorce he refused to date again or love another until now when both of us were again single. You ruined it for me"

"Did dad know?" I whispered

She nodded her head "He was aware and I did love him too in my own way"

"You are sick" shouted Seth shaking

"I am sick? What Leah is doing is sick?" she shouted back

I shook my head. I could not deal with this right now "Seth, let's go from here"

I took his hand and led him out of the house as tears fell from his eyes.

"Poor dad, he knew he was always mom's second choice" he whispered "And still he loved her so unconditionally"

"Shh" I said hugging him as I consoled him. I guess I was too confused and shocked at the moment to take all of this in. In all my childhood memories my parents were always the perfect couple, so madly in love with one another. Was it all a façade?

"I am sorry guys" said a voice and I looked up to see Embry standing in front of us "I was running around in wolf form when I heard your conversation. I swear I was not eavesdropping"

I nodded my head. I was too tired to react right now.

"If you want you both can stay the night at my place. It is empty. My mom moved in with her boyfriend last month and left for California so there is an extra room in my house" he said as sadness took over his face

I suddenly remembered how devastated he had been when his mother had packed her bags overnight and left him here alone, saying that she could not bear with his cult business any longer.

I nodded my head "Thank you"

He just shrugged and we walked towards his house. I turned back to look at the house that I had called mine for the past twenty one years. After how my mother had behaved today I doubted that I would ever return to this house or talk to her like before. She had fallen in my eyes.

We silently walked towards his house and I held on to Seth who was almost about to fall down in pain as tears were continuously falling from his eyes. Seth had always been a more emotional person than me and he had adored mom. In his eyes mom could do no wrong. She was his idol.

Embry showed me the guest room in his house and pulled out a mattress for Seth to sleep on before leaving us alone.

"How could she do this to dad, Lee? He loved her so much"

I shook my head "I don't know Seth. Even in my wildest dream I had not thought that she would have reacted like this to my imprinting. I always thought she would be happy for me"

"I am not going back to that house" he said shaking his head with a firm expression on his face

"Even I am not going back. I can't after listening to her thoughts about me. We will find some place to stay Seth" I said and he nodded his head

"It has been a long day. We should get some sleep" I said lying down on my bed as he took the mattress that was on the floor.

Even though I knew that I would get no sleep right now, I closed my eyes and thought of how happy I had been just a few hours back and how everything had gone wrong since.

The next morning when I woke up I had a message from Jacob saying that there was a pack meeting at his house at eleven. I looked at the time it was nine in the morning so I still had two hours to go. I could not scent either Embry of Seth in the house and I figured that they must have gone for a quick run or something. I took a shower and dressed in the same clothes as the previous day before going downstairs to the kitchen. I opened the fridge and checked the cabinets before preparing breakfast for me and the boys. Embry had let us stay the night in his house the least I could do for him was to leave him with something to eat. Food was the entire pack's weakness and one of the best ways to thank the other person.

I left the food for him and Seth on the counter before leaving the house. I wanted to go early and talk to Jacob about yesterday but before that I had to do something else. I reached my destination with a short walk of ten minutes. Luckily the house looked empty when I reached and I removed the spare key from under the doormat to enter the house that I had lived in till yesterday. The house reeked of alcohol and I had absolutely no idea of where my mother was right now and to be honest I did not even want to know. The house still looked the same just like it looked yesterday but the past twenty four hours had changed a lot.

I walked up to my room and changed into a new set of clothes before packing a bag with everything I wanted to take with me. Seth could come back later to pack his stuff. Finally I took a photo of my father and me that I had kept in my room. I was four when that picture was taken. We were at first beach and my father was helping me in building a sandcastle as I laughed with him and threw sand at him. I could still remember that day when I closed my eyes. My mother was heavily pregnant with Seth at that time and they had taken me for a picnic when I had thrown a tantrum that they would love the new baby more than me. For days after I phased for the first time I had not been able to look at this photo without exploding.

After packing my bags I left my room and walked down the stairs. I had no idea where I would be staying tonight but this house was not an option. I put my bags in the car that I owned but rarely ever used. I preferred running to driving and within La Push I rarely ever used my car.

I drove the distance to Jacob's house before parking the car in his driveway and getting out of it. It was almost 10:30 and soon everyone would arrive.

Jacob and Billy were having breakfast when I arrived and told me to take a seat opposite them. Billy soon wheeled himself to his room leaving us both alone at the table.

"How is Charlie?" I asked. I had been waiting since last night to ask Jacob how Charlie had taken the news.

Jacob sighed "I phased in front of him to show him because he did not believe me at first. He was livid that we hid this from him and was angry on Bells for dating a leech and knowingly putting her life so many times at risk. He was also angry at dad for keeping this a secret from him for so many years"

"Oh" I mumbled

"Bella is grounded currently and Charlie and Billy are not talking to one another at the moment but don't worry shit like this keeps happening in their friendship. One of them will plan a fishing trip and everything will be soon forgotten" he said shrugging

"So is he okay with all of this?" I whispered still nervous of hearing the answer

He nodded his head "I told him about imprinting too and he said that he needed some time to comprehend everything. It is too much for him to take in one go"

I nodded my head and sat in silence opposite him. At least he had not outright rejected me.

Soon Rachel and Paul arrived followed by Jared and Kim. All four of them were staring at me in shock and I just rolled my eyes in return. Billy left to go to meet Old Quil after meeting Rachel. Seth, Embry and Quil were the next to arrive followed by the pups Brady and Collin. Seth came and sat next to me as everyone else sat in the small living room in this house. The last to arrive were Sam and Emily. Sam's eyes were filled with pain and he looked years older than his actual age. Emily gave me a huge smile before putting the box of muffins in front of everyone.

A few people were talking around me but I ignored them and kept quiet like always. Everyone knew what this meeting was about and I could not wait for us to get done with it.

"So" said Jacob standing up "I am assuming all of you know why today's meeting has been called, our pack sister imprinted on Charlie Swan a few weeks ago and I as the alpha wanted to officially announce it"

Paul was about to open his mouth and no doubt make some ridiculous comment when Jacob stopped him "Not a word Paul. They are an imprinted couple and just like every other imprinting we will openly accept this one too"

Paul sheepishly nodded his head though I knew that the old man jokes were yet to come and would surely come when we were at the next bonfire or so.

A few people like Collin, Brady, Embry, Quil, Rachel and Kim congratulated me and I thanked them with a small smile.

Emily looked as if she wanted to come and hug me and act like we were again best friends but I ignored her. Imprinting or no imprinting things were never going to get better between us.

Suddenly I heard the door nearly fall off its hinges and the sound of clothes tearing. I looked around us to see that Sam was missing from the room and he had probably phased out of anger.

"I will go talk to him" said Jacob sighing

I shook my head "No, I need to talk to him. It is high time we talk once and for all. Let no one else phase"

He nodded his head and I left the house. In the past one year, Sam and I had never had a proper conversation. It was always me shouting and he yelling back that he did not have a choice. It was high time now that we had this conversation and attained closure.

I tied my clothes at my ankle and phased into the grey she wolf that I was.

"No, this cannot be happening. She is mine" grunted the anger filled voice in my mind. I could see him playing memories of our time together. From us playing at the beach when I was eight and he was nine to us going on our first date years late and our first kiss, to him proposing near the tidal pools on third beach. In every memory he was looking at me with such adoration and love like I was his world which aggravated me.

"Sam enough get this in your thick head. I am not yours anymore. Emily is your imprint, your fiancée"

"Lee Lee" he pleaded

I could see him running in the woods hitting trees in his anger.

"Sam, it is over between us. It was over more than a year back when you phased for the first time. Both of us held onto something that we had to let go. I can't keep doing this anymore. I have moved on and let you go and it is high time that you let me go too"

"Lee Lee please, you are my last connection to who I was"

I shook my wolf head "Sam I don't know whether that was you or this is you but you have Emily now and I have Charlie and we have to accept it. It took me too long to reach this point but I am not turning back now. Forcing me to follow your orders and keeping me closer to you was not good for either of us. We were over long back and it will be better for you if you accept this"

I could see him falling on his paws in the pack mind "Lee Lee I truly did love you"

"I know but you love Emily more just like I love Charlie more"

He did not say anything for the next few minutes and if I could still not feel his presence in the pack mind I would have thought that he phased out.

"So this is it?" he said

"Yes"

"Are you happy with him?"

I nodded my head "Happier than ever"

"Are you going to stop phasing?"

"Yes eventually"

He nodded his head "I know we did you wrong Leah and I am extremely sorry but Emily still misses you. If you would just talk to her sometimes…"

"I will try to be cordial to her"

He nodded his head "That is all I ask, thank you"

I soon phased out, leaving him alone and walked back to Jacob's house towards the next part of my life.

X-X-X-X-X-X

Today was another pack bonfire and I sat at the cliffs alone staring at the water beneath me. The sun was about to set and like always everyone around me was either talking, playing football or eating leaving me alone here. This was like a déjà vu moment for me as I sat at the cliffs on first beach thinking about my imprint. It had been a month since everyone found out about my imprint and Charlie came to know of me being a shape shifter and things had changed since then.

Seth and I had left home that day and were now living at Embry's till we could find a better accommodation. My mother had left the council that very day and had left La push too saying that she could not stay here any longer. Where she went no one knows and we had no way to contact her. Like I had told Sam I had tried talking to Emily and at least we were cordial towards one another for now. Paul and Jared had passed a few nasty comments but had stopped when I had broken a few of their bones. I was still working at the Ateara's general store but was thinking of going to the community college in Port Angeles to study ahead. Now that I was rarely phasing I could pursue whatever I wanted from life.

"What are you thinking about sweetheart?"

I looked at the man who had come and sat next to me on the cliffs and was looking at me with love in his eyes. I shook my head and he offered me a soda.

"I was thinking of something" he started nervously

Even after all these days of us being together there were times when nervous unsure Charlie made an appearance. I gave him a smile and told him to continue.

"I know we have just been together for only a month now and it is too early but I would really like it if you moved in with me"

I looked at him surprised before nodding my head with a huge grin on my face. This past one month had been the best time of my life and every minute spent with Charlie was amazing. I could not wait for the next part of our life. Not everyone we know had taken the news of us dating well but the people who truly mattered had accepted our relationship.

He pulled me in his arms and I laid down my head on his shoulder as he kissed me on the forehead, his hands running through my now shoulder length hair.

"Leah, Charlie, we are about to start the legends" shouted Jacob from where he was standing

"Let's go my lady" said Charlie getting up and giving me his hand which I readily took. He took my hand in his as we walked back to where everyone was now sitting. It was like a habit. Our hands were always entwined when we were together.

I sat next to him opposite the fire as Billy started reciting the legends. For once I did not blame the spirits for making me phase or for the mystical bond that was imprinting because without all of that I would have never been with my Charlie and the man sitting next to me had proved this to me that second chances do exist and you can fall in love with anyone, anywhere and at any age.

He gave me a smile when he saw me looking at him and pulled me in his arms, the place that was my home. I could see Bella looking at me from across the fire, where she sat next to Jacob and she gave me a huge smile which I reciprocated. Everyone was laughing around me and this time instead of frowning I was laughing with them.

Yeah, life was good and I was finally home.

A/N: The last chapter will be posted in a couple of days. Thank you.


	6. Chapter 6

Thank you GomezAddams1, MammaNita4, brankel1, catgrl, YaleAceBella12, sarae32 and sentinel10 for your reviews.

'_And will I tell you that these three lived happily ever after? _

_I will not, for no one ever does. But there was happiness and they did live.'_

_Stephen King_

Chapter 6-

The thing about life is that you never know what is awaiting you at the next turn, you never know what tomorrow morning's sunlight will bring for you when you call it a night today and there is absolutely no way to predict how your destiny will play out. Sure you can guess all you want but till that exact moment arrives, the curtain that is covering your destiny from you does not uncover itself.

Eight years back I had just been a broken girl who had condemned herself to a life of loneliness and pain. I had no hope left and was not waiting for any miracle to occur as according to the bitter girl I had been miracles only happened in children's stories and my life was in no way a fairytale, it was the harsh reality that I had had to face in life. It was the story of a girl who had been left behind to survive with a broken heart, to live with the guilt of causing the death of the man she loved the most and to live a life where she was termed as an abnormally by others, the first she wolf and probably the last to ever exist in the Quileute legends. I had accepted the bitter reality that my life had put in front of me and had pushed my childhood dreams of happily ever after somewhere in the back of my mind, never to see it again. There was no happily ever after in real life, it was just a fairytale invented to give children hope growing up and when you finally grew up that bubble burst and you realized that life was not all roses, there was a lot more to life and you had to accept everything that came with 'growing up' irrespective whether you liked it or not and that is exactly what I had done accepted the pill life placed in front of me having no other choice but to.

And then my destiny had given me another chance, thrown another curveball my way, a curveball I was convinced was the spirits way to torture me more and to laugh at my plight. That one word that I had detested the most in my life 'Imprinting' had finally come in front of me giving me the biggest shock of my existence in the form of my soul mate. I had considered it a curse another screw you from the world but then everything I believed in had suddenly changed giving me a completely new perspective in life, a new hope and a second chance to begin my life.

Second chances are a wonderful thing and a blessing for many and it had taken me a while to get this in my thick head but now at the age of 29, I knew that it was not a curse but a blessing from the spirits, a second chance at love and life leaving behind every painful memory that I had witnessed in my short life. Age did not matter in love, it is just a number and neither did those other small differences, love overcomes everything and today I could not thank the spirits enough for giving me the push I needed to finally move on, in the form of imprinting. Imprinting had taken my first love and my best friend/cousin away from me but it had also given me the love of my life and a trustworthy friend in the form of Bella. Now when I looked back I could see how every imprinted couple was the actual other half of that person and how they were truly meant to be and now I knew that Sam and I would never have lasted even if the magical gene of shape shifting had skipped our generation. Everything happens for a reason and and we may not know it at that time but now I knew what that reason was. I would have never been with my other half if it wasn't for imprinting there were too many barriers between us to cross and I had had to just wait for the cards kept in front of me to play out to lead me to my destiny and it had surely been a long wait.

I blinked to bring my thoughts back to the present and noticed the hustle and bustle around me. It was another normal day in my life a happy life that I had never thought I deserved to have and a life that had brought me to work at the last place I had ever thought I would be working at, a daycare centre. I had never been much of a kid friendly person but I guess with time people change and these toddlers and infants that surrounded me surely knew how to bring a smile on my face irrespective of whatever mood I was in. La Push had only one daycare centre that dealt with childcare and after doing the basic training required I had started working here nearly Seven years back and my life had not been the same since.

I pushed these thoughts to the back of my mind and went to change the diaper of Brian Taylor, the small little baby kept in my care, who had started crying and used every trick in the book I knew to get him to stop crying. After doing a few more chores and seeing if everything was in order, with a smile on my face I walked to where little Miss Charlotte Lahote was sitting drawing a family portrait with the exact same smile of her father's on her face. Sometimes it was hard to believe that Paul had such a well mannered and quiet daughter. After observing him during his childhood any child could be seen as an angel and to be honest Rachel had been no better so I had no idea who Charlotte had gone on. She showed me her drawing shyly blushing before she ran to where the other kids were to play with the toys.

Most of the original pack had now stopped phasing with the exception of Quil, Brady, Collin, Alex and Rick who still phased even though there were no vampire sightings, the last two had been the last to phase and everyone was surprised when they phased randomly out of the blue but Quil who was now the current Alpha had helped them a lot in adjusting to this new life. By the time they had phased I had been living in Forks and had given up my wolf and so the only time I saw them was during the once in a month bonfires or the occasional dinners at someone's house. Sharing a mind for more than a year with the original pack members I had become attached to all of them and even if I did not like to admit it much they had become like a dysfunctional extended family to me. Though most of us were now busy in the ins and outs of daily life, we made it a point to meet on birthdays, festivals and the once in the month bonfire that Billy still liked to hold to let the next generation know of the legends though surprisingly the imprints that I carefully avoided during those early years were now the ones who I almost saw daily because of my job at the daycare centre and with years my friendship with them had improved too, now that there was no bad blood between us.

"Mommy" a soft voice said from behind me and I turned to look at the little miracle standing in front of my eyes with her almond shaped black eyes filled with curiosity and innocence and russet skin clutching a piece of paper close to her body.

"Look what I drew" she said coming closer to me with a proud look on her face. I took the paper from her hands and tears filled my eyes looking at the drawing in front of me. It was a picture of my family with the three of us standing outside the three bedroom house that we lived in, in Forks.

"It is adorable" I said after a few minutes and her smile widened "We will put it on the fridge when we go back home"

She nodded her head before running off to where her other friends were and I looked at the drawing she had handed me again. There were still days when I felt like this was a dream and I would soon wake up to find out that I was the miserable female werewolf once again still in love with her ex fiancé and this all had just been an elaborate dream cultivated by my sad mind and then I would shake my head and go back to my routine knowing that this was in fact reality.

My four year old daughter Mireya Hazel Swan was truly a miracle as her name suggested. After giving up the wolf permanently I had moved to Forks to begin my new life with Charlie eight years back but reality had soon come crushing down on us when even after months of quitting to phase I had not got my period again. A visit to a gynecologist in Port Angeles had confirmed that I had something known as PCOS and it would be difficult for me to get pregnant and after trying for two years when nothing happened I had been devastated. Charlie had stood like a rock by me during those days and even though he had not been very comfortable with the idea of having children so late in life in the beginning he had been looking forward to it when he saw how much I wanted it in life. After a few months we had started thinking of other options such as surrogacy and adoption but had not reached any final end and had finally even accepted that we would not have any children of our own when our little miracle Mireya entered our life. Her biological mother had got pregnant in high school from her boyfriend and was thinking of giving her up for adoption as she could not look after her. When this news had reached me and Charlie, a new hope had made its place in my heart and we had immediately gone to meet her at her parent's house in La Push. After convincing her that this baby would be always looked after and loved and completing all the necessary formalities we had been ready to adopt our first child and bring her into our family and the rest of the months of the pregnancy had been spent in preparing for the nursery and taking advice from all those in the pack who had already had children. Finally after waiting for months our little angel Mireya Hazel Swan had come crying into this world, Mireya which meant miracle in Spanish and Hazel for Charlie's mother.

I shook my head bringing myself back to the present and went to look at the kids who were playing with a few blocks before busying me with the other work. Soon everyone's parents started arriving to pick their kids up and after talking to Rachel and Kim along with a few others for a while even Mireya and I left to go home.

"Hey" I said as I entered the living room putting the car keys in the bowl assigned for them. Mireya ran from my side to sit in her father's lap and he soon started cuddling her. Something's never changed and even today after all these years my husband of seven and a half years was watching a baseball game. I rolled my eyes and walked towards the kitchen to get myself a glass of water before starting dinner.

I was surprised when I saw that dinner was already prepared and everything was ready. Warm arms wrapped themselves around my torso and I leaned back into them. They still reminded me of home like they had the first time I had been engulfed in them.

"How?" I asked him looking into his eyes and he chuckled

"I know I can't cook sweetheart but that does not mean I can't order from outside. I knew you were having a couple of busy days and wanted to have a quiet dinner at home and so instead of taking my girls out I decided to order in tonight"

I gave him a smile and sighed happily "You are perfect you know that right?"

He kissed me on the forehead "Glad you think so"

Now that dinner was already ready I decided to take a quick shower before setting the table and soon the three of us were eating and talking about anything and everything. I loved dinners because that was the time when all of us always ate together, with Charlie still being the Police chief he often left in the mornings before Mireya woke up and sometimes even before I woke up if he had to report early but he made it a point to come back home before dinner unless it was an emergency that he had to attend to.

After watching TV for some more time and tucking Mireya into her bed the both of us made our way to our bedroom.

"I was talking to Bells today" he said sitting on the bed

"How is she doing?"

"She said this one is kicking much more than the first two did and she feels that she is much bigger this time even though those were twins the first time" he said with a slight laugh

Bella and Jacob were now married and were expecting their third child with their first two being twins. The twin gene that passed from generation to generation in the Black lineage had made its presence known in the form of six year old William and Charles Black and they were hoping for a girl this time around.

We spoke for some more time about her and the kids who were my step grandchildren before shutting the lights and calling it a night. Some did find it weird that the aunt of the twins was younger than them but they looked at her like a younger sister instead and were equally protective of her.

The next few days passed by in a similar manner, the only change was that I dropped in to the Black's house to meet Bella and see the twins. Jacob now ran his garage with Quil and Embry while Bella who was a teacher in the tribal school was currently on maternity leave. The past few years had only strengthened our friendship and I was also one of the first few to hold her children after her and Jacob during the low periods of my life. After talking to her for a while I had left to go back home promising that I would soon come to see her again.

Another surprise visitor this week had been my now twenty four year old brother Seth who lived in Seattle and worked as an editor for a local magazine. He had still not imprinted and had no hope of imprinting now that he had stopped phasing. He was now looking for love the traditional way and was content with his life.

He had stayed for dinner before going back to our old house in La Push to spend the night. It had been eight years since I had seen or spoken to my mother and no one knew where she had gone. We had tried finding her and even contacting all of our relatives to see if anyone had heard from her but it had been of no use. Finally we had reached the conclusion that maybe she had left the country in itself. Having no one else to claim that house Seth had moved back rebuilding the entire thing again in the form of a bachelor pad. He had stayed there for a few years before he left to go to college and stayed in his bachelor pad whenever he came back here to visit.

Today was another busy day and my little angel was bouncing in excitement since morning as we had been invited to a birthday party this evening. It was Mireya's best friend Ethan who was also Embry and his wife Savannah's son's birthday and Embry had a habit of going overboard when it came to his children's birthday.

After completing work I drove towards Embry's house where the party was and Charlie was coming directly from the station. Most of the people had already arrived by the time we reached and I looked around me to see the laughter and happiness before making my way towards the others. Sam, Emily, Paul, Rachel, Jared, Kim, Jacob, Bella, Embry, Savannah were sitting on one of the huge tables set up. Quil was talking to the now twelve year old Claire and the other pack members were also here some alone and some with their girlfriends while the children all played in the backyard with the games Embry had set up for them.

Charlie soon arrived and with a kiss on my cheek went to talk to Billy while I rolled my eyes and went back to talking to Rachel. After the elaborate dinner set up the three of us left to go home and Charlie drove as I sat with a sleeping exhausted Mireya in my lap cuddled close to me.

"Today was fun" I said kissing Mireya on the forehead

"Yeah it was" he said nodding his head

I often wondered it Charlie felt alone being around my age group but my worries faded when I saw him interact with everyone comfortably even Sam and even the pack had now completely accepted Charlie as one of theirs.

"Next week is Noah Cameron's fifth birthday party" said Charlie reminding me

"Another party, Mireya is going to be bouncing in excitement the entire week now" I said pointing at my sleeping child. For some reason she loved birthdays not only hers but everyone's and she was always excited for them.

He chuckled, kissing Mireya before giving me a soft kiss. We soon reached the house and Charlie took her from me to tuck her into bed while I followed them inside.

This was the routine every time we came back from a party or a late night bonfire and I was always glad at the end of the day that life gave me this day to see and such a beautiful family to have.

Leah Clearwater had been a bitter girl who had no hope left but Leah Swan smiled, laughed and cherished every moment she got to spend with her family and friends. Yeah maybe imprinting and second chances are not so bad in the end.

_Though "Happy ever after" doesn't look like it does in the movies, it does exist. It exists in the messy ups and downs and highs and lows of our marriage. It is real. It is true. It is the honest version of our fairy tale. – Unknown_

A/N: Thank you to everyone who read, followed, favorited and reviewed this story, the support means a lot.

-Hmz0975


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